Home > Consumer Reviews > Onkyo CS-325 CD Receiver System

I recently purchased an Onkyo CS-325 CD Receiver System for our kitchen. I was going to purchase an under counter system, but after listening to one in a big box store, was disappointed with the sound quality. The receiver itself is compact and takes up little countertop space. I put the two speakers on top of the kitchen cabinets, one on each end. The wires were routed up alongside the refrigerator making them almost invisible. The system sounds great especially with the speakers being high in the room. I have other Onkyo products and they always give you great sound at a reasonable price.

EVER SINCE I'VE WORKED FOR MARANTZ BACK IN 1978 I HAVE HAD A LOVE FOR HIGH END AUDIO AND GOOD SOUNDING SYSTEMS. I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SMALL AND WELL MADE FOR MY PARENTS CONDO SO THEY CAN ENJOY GREAT SOUND BUT NOT TAKE UP MUCH SPACE. BOSE SYSTEMS(WHICH COST MUCH MORE) DO NOTHING FOR ME WHEN IT COMES TO WARM SMOOTH SOUND AND THEIR QUALITY OVER YEARS HAS CHANGED. THIS ONKYO UNIT IS MONEY WELL SPENT.IT IS ONE WELL MADE UNIT. THE WARMTH OF SOUND IS AMAZING VOCALS STAND OUT AND MUSIC SMOOTH EVEN AT LOW LEVELS. IT DELIVERS GREAT SOUND AT HIGHER VOLUME WITH NO DISTORTION. MAN YOU WONT REGRET BUYING THIS UNIT FOR THE PRICE MONEY WELL SPENT. YOU ACTUALLY GET MORE THAN YOU PAID FOR THIS BABY.

Updating my review...
I love this little stereo. I have had it for over 10 months now, and I am very happy. I am using it in my office to replace a high quality boom box I had before. I was mostly interested in good sound quality, and this system surpasses my expectations for this price. I am a little bit of an audiopile, and I can tell that the range isn't a wide as a full size stereo system, but it puts out more volume then I need for my office, and the sound is well balanced. I use the docking inputs to connect my iPhone and MP3 player too. You don't need the expensive ipod connector if you don't need to control your ipod/iphone with a remote (I just use a cord that has two RCA connectors on one side and a headphone jack on the other end).

I decided that I wanted to install some outdoor speakers by my hot tub outside my office. I wanted to use this Onkyo stereo to power them, but there is only one pair of speaker outputs; so, I purchased a Pyle Pro speaker control center that allows you to switch between four speakers. I found out that the speaker control center lets you power mutlple speakers at the same time, and I was amazed that this little amp can power both sets of speakers at a loud volume. This tells me that it is a quality Amplifier. Then my wife was saying it would be nice if we could watch a movie in the hot tub. I simply moved my large monitor to the window and connected an extra DVD player to the monitor and tape inputs on the Onkyo, and we have Movies in the hot tub.
I really appreciate all the inputs and outputs on this stereo.
Next, I might want to try adding a subwoofer since it has a subwoofer output.

Very nice system with a surprisingly big sound for a small unit. Adding a powered subwoofer, one might likely have people believing that it was a full sized system. It has a very clean sound with the mids being the most predominant. It would be hard to find better in this price range. There are many settings and features, so don't be too quick to write this unit off until you experiment a bit with them first. For a little shelf system it rocks!

Pluses;
1. Size, which is the reason I got it, though I wish the heat sink was internal (see below),
2. Price, I found a 'open box' model w/o the speakers,
3. Ability to play MP3 files,
4. Bass & treble control (some don't have either, but see below),
5. Two rear aux. inputs (some don't have any),
6. 40 presets in any combination (AM and/or FM),
7. Full size bananna plugs for speakers (kinda overkill given the audio output, or lack of),
8. Power consumption, less than 25 watts and runs cool since audio is only 12 watts per channel, (but see below),
9. Standard 'F' fitting for external FM antenna. Also included AM 'loop' antenna (some people still do listen to AM).

Minuses;
1. Power hog when in standby. This uses half as much when it's in standby (10 watts),
2. Bass & treble, manual tune & menu are only available through remote. As with too many consumer electronics, you loose the remote you are SOOL,
3. Bass & treble have a very limited & crude stepping range,
4. Manual tuning of stations can only be done from remote. If you don't program any stations and the remote goes south, you have no reception!,
5. Useless "direct" gimmick button on front panel where Menu button should be,
6. External heat sink that could/should of been internal. (There's room for it on either side or above optical drive). This would reduce depth by over three inches. (The heat sink does not get hot at all),
7. Confusing procedure to rename stations and only allows room for 8 digits and/or letters (needs 10 spacs to have frequency and call letters with space between and decimal point),
8. Small remote, buttons could of been laid out better.